On its 5th birthday, 5 things we love about Android

Google's open source OS made the world of mobile devices a better place.

Five years ago today, Google and its partners in the cellular service provider and mobile hardware industries unveiled the Open Handset Alliance and the development of Android.

Google's stewardship of the mobile operating system dated back to its 2005 purchase of Android, Inc., a company founded in 2003 by executives including Andy Rubin. (Rubin still oversees development of Android as a Google senior vice president.) But November 5, 2007 was the date Google announced its intention to take the smartphone market by storm.

It wasn't an overnight success. The iPhone had already been available since mid-2007. Android 1.0 software didn't come along until September 2008, and it wasn't until late 2009 that Google and its partners started hitting their stride with blockbuster products like the Motorola Droid.

When I wrote about Android's launch in November 2007, I could not have predicted it would be the world's most widely used smartphone operating system today. But it is—and it's also the second most widely used tablet operating system, with popular pieces of hardware like Amazon's Kindle Fire and Google's own Nexus 7.

There are lots of reasons Android has become a current powerhouse. On its fifth birthday, here are five things we love about Google's mobile operating system.

It's open source

Google makes all the source code in Android public, releasing it under the Apache License, with any modifications made to the underlying Linux kernel released under GPL v2. This might not mean much to the average user, but it's a big deal and the beginning point of Android's unusual level of openness.

Linux and open source software have long played a major role in data centers and business applications. But Linux's inability to take market share from Windows meant most people were unlikely to use an open source operating system—until Android came along. While the majority of successful Android hardware has been explicitly blessed by Google (which sometimes takes a heavy-handed approach with partners), the source code's public release allows anyone to use and modify Android as they see fit.

People who buy the Kindle Fire, or any Barnes & Noble Nook tablet or e-reader may not even realize they're using Android—but they are. For companies not already tied to a mobile platform, Android is practically the default operating system for launching new hardware. A new game console called Ouya uses Android, and even makers of kids' tablets rely on it.

While some complain that Google exercises too much control over Android relative to other open source projects, Android's openness is still the platform's defining attribute. Many of the best things about Android that we'll describe in this list flow from the open nature of the platform.

Widgets make home screens informative and interactive

As an Android user, widgets are probably my favorite feature. Widgets provide a portion of an application's functionality on an Android device's home screen, allowing the user to see real-time updates and manipulate the app in limited ways. On the home screens of my Nexus 7, I can scroll through recent e-mails and read their subject lines, see upcoming appointments on my calendar, or check the weather without actually clicking into the weather application. And with the Google Music widget, I can hit play or pause and move from one song to the next. None of these things are possible with the iPhone or iPad, because Apple's iOS displays only icons to represent each application. They always look the same.

Adding widgets is easy, and you don't have to hunt around for them. From the home screen, you click into the app drawer, and select the list of widgets. Many are pre-installed by Google—more examples include a view of your browser bookmarks and your photo collection—and others are installed along with any apps you download from Google Play. There are also a variety of apps designed to help users create more widgets not enabled by default.

Multiple app stores and sideloading, no rooting required

If you're not a fan of the closed app store model seen in iOS and now the Windows Store, Android is the platform for you. By default, Android does not allow installation of applications from any source other than the Google Play store. But you don't need to root or jailbreak your Android phone to open it up beyond the officially sanctioned app store. That's because Android provides an easily found escape hatch within its security settings, letting users check a box allowing installation of apps from unknown sources.

The most well-known third-party app store for Android is Amazon's, but it's not the only one. In addition to some little-known ones that act like traditional app stores, Mozilla is rolling out a new browser-based app market within Firefox.

Checking the "unknown sources" box also allows side-loading, the ability to install an application from anywhere, not just from an "app store." This comes in handy for me because Swype isn't available on Google Play. It also has been beneficial to customers because of the restrictions carriers have used to hobble Android. Verizon, for example, filtered tethering apps out of the Android Market last year for users accessing the store from Verizon devices. But those same tethering apps could still be installed by downloading them from the Web.

Customizability

In addition to being able to choose from hardware of all different shapes, sizes, and prices, Android users can customize each phone or tablet to their hearts' content. Don't like the way your home screen looks? Download a third-party launcher that completely overhauls the look and feel of your home screen. There are various other ways of customizing user interface components and settings. For example, I was unsatisfied with the battery life of my Nexus 7, which was draining quickly while in sleep mode. But I solved the problem by downloading an app called "Auto Airplane Mode," which puts the device into airplane mode each time the display is turned off, while quickly turning the wireless functions back on the next time I light up the screen. If your battery life can survive it, though, Android's extensive multi-tasking and allowances for background tasks can be very useful.

Beyond those kinds of tweaks, Android lets users change the default programs for e-mail, Web browsing, and other tasks. The openness of Android is especially important in terms of Web browsing. iOS places technical limitations on third-party browsers, so Google's version of Chrome for the iPhone and iPad is basically just a wrapper around iOS's version of WebKit (and it's slower than Apple's Safari). But on Android there are no such restrictions. As a result, users have a real choice of browsers. Firefox has become my favorite and default browser on Android because I like its interface, and—according to the SunSpider benchmark tests I've run—it's just as fast as Chrome.

Various aspects of Android help developers provide unique experiences for users. Android's "Intents" system, for one, makes it easy for applications to interact with each other. Android developer advocate Alexander Lucas writes that, for example, this makes it easy for an app to scan a barcode without requiring the developer to write a ton of extra code. It also helps build a common sharing infrastructure to avoid one-off integrations that can lead to a confusing user interface. Android also implements default protocol handlers in a way that allows deep integration between apps and the Web. For example, this would let an Internet Movie Database application open any link pointing to IMDB.com.

For users who are really serious about customizing their phones and tablets, there is always rooting, which provides almost full control over the Android operating system and more extensive ways of backing up and restoring your device. While rooting is a major part of the Android experience for enthusiasts, one of the best things about Android is you don't have to root in order to customize the user interface and install applications from third-party sources.

The Android Community

In the past five years, a vibrant user and developer community has been built around Android. If you're a "n00b" looking for help fixing, tweaking, or customizing your device, websites like the CyanogenMod forum and XdaDevelopers are filled with plenty of more experienced users willing to help out. Various blogs like Android and Me and Android Police are also great sources for those new to Android.

The community exists at least partly because users and developers are taking advantage of Android's open source nature to change it to suit their own needs. One popular activity for owners of rooted Android devices is to install a custom ROM, essentially replacing the entire operating system with a modified version. Availability of Android source code, of course, is crucial for developers building custom ROMs such as CyanogenMod. This is useful for people who want specific functionality not available in Android by default, and also for those unlucky souls stuck on a phone the carrier refuses to update.

Custom ROMs aren't the only reason for Android's active user community, but they are a good example of why the Android community is important. If you've got a problem with Android, or just something you'd like to work a bit differently, there's bound to be someone to help you out.

Here's to five more years of Android

This wasn't meant to be a comprehensive overview of everything Android, but a sampling of the things we think make it successful. What do you find most intriguing about Android? And what would you like Android to accomplish in the next five years?

I don't do anything with it that it doesn't handle with ease (I tried finding stuff it couldn't, like playing 1080p movies with DTS, but it just does), but you know. I could get a higher score in Geekbench.

I think with each iteration they keep getting better. Unfortunately most droid users are stuck in Gingerbread (not a bad version, just not as good as ICS / JB) because their carriers wont make the upgrade. And the custom ROMs are fun to play around with until you find one that really suits you, it's honestly like Linux on PCs, if you don't like something about it, change it, or even install a new flavour. That being an option is great.

My favorite feature of Android was the open file system. Plug in phone to computer - it appears like a flash drive. Copy pdf or movie file (any kind - ANY KIND). done. Unplug, go to files OPEN. Choose the program you want to open.

Such a simple thing, but the mangled issues I have getting files to my iPad or to my Windows Phone (7 Mango) make me want to tear my hair out in frustration. Sure I can use Zune to drop a movie file to my phone, but Zune has to convert it first. Then it borks out over half the time. It's wasted effort. Same thing for the iPad - I can use the apps tab in iTunes to try to send files to movie player apps on the iPad, but it's a hack. Or I can email myself pdfs. Or find a program that uses Dropbox.

All inelegant hacks around what should be the simplest process ever. Plug in. Copy. Play or open with MY choice of program.

I'd like app permissions to actually be finely controllable and invoked when they're being used. Right now abuse seems rife, with many apps asking for blanket access to my GPS location, phone number, call logs, and the ability to run at boot. Why does a dictionary app or a scrabble game need that? The answer is that it doesn't, except as a way to sell user data to advertisers.

I don't think I'm being paranoid for not wanting advertisers (many which I've never heard of) tracking my every step and communication. Luckily there's Droidwall and a few other privacy apps, but that functionality should honestly be baked-in to the OS.

I don't do anything with it that it doesn't handle with ease (I tried finding stuff it couldn't, like playing 1080p movies with DTS, but it just does), but you know. I could get a higher score in Geekbench.

I have my HTC EVO 4G LTE overclocked to 1.8 GHz. Honestly I don't notice the difference, probably because there isn't much that taxed the S4 at 1.5 GHz. But my Geekbench numbers are bigger so that made my penis grow by 2 inches!!

My Droid X has been rocking 1.3ghz since the first week I had it. It will be 2 years old this month. I also figured out how to get Baldur's Gate 2 running on it, and the program (GemRB) handles the touch control so well it is actually fully playable and perhaps better than a mouse and keyboard ever was. Highly recommend those with a little time, know-how, and a tablet check it out.

The continued survival of old versions of Android being sold as if they're new seems to be a pair of concrete slippers for Android in general.

A brand new phone, running stock Android 2.3, has been thrust into my hands for work. Compared to my Nokia N9, its UI is so braindead it's infuriating, and if it was mine, I would have returned it, or absent-mindedly dropped it under a bus. I bow to you, gents, for having put up with this nonsense for the last 5 years. I'd rather have used a dumbphone (and I did).

So, I'd like all new phones with Android 2.3 to self-destruct, pretty please, thank you.

In the meantime, I'm going to put NITdroid (4.0.3) on my N9 as a control measurement. There must be more to Android than this, otherwise this article is hilarious. It can't be true. It can't be. My faith in humanity, it is fading.

2.3 is not that bad, sorry. Perhaps it isn't the UI that is braindead? Also, why not mention the phone by name? You mention the Nokia N9.

The continued survival of old versions of Android being sold as if they're new seems to be a pair of concrete slippers for Android in general.

A brand new phone, running stock Android 2.3, has been thrust into my hands for work. Compared to my Nokia N9, its UI is so braindead it's infuriating, and if it was mine, I would have returned it, or absent-mindedly dropped it under a bus. I bow to you, gents, for having put up with this nonsense for the last 5 years. I'd rather have used a dumbphone (and I did).

So, I'd like all new phones with Android 2.3 to self-destruct, pretty please, thank you.

In the meantime, I'm going to put NITdroid (4.0.3) on my N9 as a control measurement. There must be more to Android than this, otherwise this article is hilarious. It can't be true. It can't be. My faith in humanity, it is fading.

I felt the same way going to an Xperia Pro from a WP7.5 phone (LG Quantum) and an iPad user. The customization is great, so long as you're prepared to sink the time into it. But picking it up and using it, plus at the time just needing a phone that worked like my Quantum did, it was a pretty painful experience. Given time I could see enjoying it, I'm the kind of person who overclocked by TI-83 and installed custom roms for WP6, but the initial user experience is horrendous until you sink the time into setting it up like you want it.

Since the iPad came out, I've been telling myself I will be buying an iPad. I just wasn't impressed with any of the Andorid tablet offerings. Then the Nexus 7 came about and I did an about-face. I am now the proud owner of a Neuxs 7. Best of all, when it become obsolete in a few years like all tablets of today, I will only be out $200 vs $330-500+.

Now that I'm on Andorid, I don't know of I could live in the iOS universe. No widgets? That has to be the killer part of Andorid for me. Sure the apps make me feel a little longing for Apple's App store, but I think products like the Nexus 7 will help Andorid reach a critical mass that will attract more and more quality developers.

I'm on my second Android phone and I love it. I had a Droid 2 Global previously which I upgraded to Gingerbread through CyanogenMod (since Verizon had me stuck on Froyo). I've since upgraded to a Droid RAZR MAXX which is such a vast improvement over the Global that I can barely look at the Global (I still have it around for a few odd apps without a little bit of remorse (It served me well for two years).

That being said, I'd love to get my MAXX up to Jellybean. CyanogenMod was still working on it the last time I checked (the camera wasn't working I believe) and to be honest, ICS is running well enough for me at the moment I don't feel rushed into it.

I do have a friend that is quite heavy into the Apple world, and they are starting to lean towards and Android phone to replace their iPhone. The downside is that once you've made that initial decision on OS (Android/iOS/Windows) you're pretty much locked in for life since none of the apps will cross the gap. I definitely wouldn't want to re-purchase everything if I switched. Talk about money down the drain.

I do also have a Xoom (I like Motorola, don't judge me. :-P) and I'm feeling a bit let down that the Xoom2 was not released in America (it was released in Europe, with better specs than the original). I'll probably invest in a new Android tablet eventually, but I just don't have the money for ANY tablet at this time.

I plan on a lot more entertaining and useful years with my Android devices though! Happy Birthday!

OK, here's what I would like to see them do... I (and many of you out there that have a tablet like a Nexus 7 or the coming Nexus 10) have a first world problem - too many screens. When I am out of the house, I have my phone. When I am in the house, I am stuck carrying both my phone and my Nexus 7, because the phone might ring. Since both devices share my WiFi network and the Nexus 7 has a mic and speaker (works great for Google+ hangouts), why do I need to keep my phone with me in the house? I want to put it on the charger and have calls automatically routed (over WiFi) from my phone to my Nexus 7 when I am home. I don't want to have to keep both devices with me on the couch, etc. I know you can do this Google - you have all the hardware there, you just need a software layer to make it happen.

Been happy with my Nexux One that I purchased close to release. Installed CM7 on it. While I think of upgrading from time to time, I always stop mysely but I don't see any reason to do so. At times I get slightly jelous of my wifes SII and that Nexus 4 looks realllllly nice so we will see. But ya, Android - awesome.

I feel the hardware (power-wise) is there, as in my Toshiba Thrive, but the content-creation apps, are lacking.

How hard would it be to port AbiWord to android and have a real word processor, not just a reader, onto it?Giving the android OS real applications would go a long way toward me viewing it as more than just an overpriced toy.

I think with each iteration they keep getting better. Unfortunately most droid users are stuck in Gingerbread (not a bad version, just not as good as ICS / JB) because their carriers wont make the upgrade. And the custom ROMs are fun to play around with until you find one that really suits you, it's honestly like Linux on PCs, if you don't like something about it, change it, or even install a new flavour. That being an option is great.

As an Android user, widgets are probably my favorite feature. Widgets provide a portion of an application's functionality on an Android device's home screen, allowing the user to see real-time updates and manipulate the app in limited ways.

I find the whole concept of widgets interesting.

On one hand you have people on tech blogs and websites claiming that widgets are a must have for iOS. On the other, the majority of people I know - either those who have an Android phone, those which participate in our software trials and those who come in for UX testing (which combined is a fair number of people) - all use pretty much the stock layout that their phone came with out of the box.

Recently the Verge did a "show us your home screen" and, with the exception of a small number of extremely elaborate layouts, the majority of Android screens had one large widget and a bunch of icons.

Me personally? I have a weather widget and an upcoming appointments widget and a bunch of icons. So I'm hardly pushing the creative boat out much myself.

I personally like Android because of its power and flexibility. I use Android on my phones and I've currently got an iPad2 as my tablet. Using both OSes daily really shows off their relative strengths and weaknesses compared to one another.

The biggest problem that seems to come up with Android is how the base OS is free to build for any device but closed source drivers keep us at the mercy of OEMs and carriers to put out updates. On my iPad I don't need to worry about that. On the flipside, I'm just as dependent on the third party dev community for iOS because without jailbreak, my iPad is missing some core features (sideloading, downloading files directly from the mobile browser, and various interface fixes) and I have to wait for new versions to be jailbroken.

The funny part is that my SGS2 is running Jellybean while my iPad is still on iOS5 because independent devs have ported a solid version of JB to my phone while the iPad2 doesn't yet have jailbreak on iOS6.

Other than the nerdy side, I like how Android is a powerful communications device. Notifications have always been excellent. I can share pictures and links with any other program like Gmail or Facebook or Twitter or G+ etc. Voice commands were always nice when driving and now that Apple added them to iOS, Android beefed up its voice search and commands to compete. Navigation, video chat, docs integration, mail, calendar, etc...all integrated with the same services I already use on the web.

I like how I can make my desktop as info-laden or as minimalist as I want without requiring hacks or jailbreak or weird mobile substrate addons. Sometimes I keep my phone set up with just a basic image of the current weather and other times I keep it loaded with shortcuts and widgets. Usually I just keep a page for each layout.

I hope a few things improve over the coming years. Android taught iOS a lot of tricks but there are some real issues still and Google could stand to improve some things compared to Apple's implementation.

The problem I see is that the Android model is more like Windows where Microsoft creates and licenses the OS while OEMs produce the components and final packages. With Windows, you don't have to wait on Dell or HP or Asus or Lenovo to update your computer to the new version. Since the companies making the hardware release drivers under a standard model, you can count on Windows running reasonably well on any decent hardware.

With Android, you can get the new versions of the OS easily and freely but without drivers, you can't port new versions over to existing devices. I'd suggest a standard driver model but I can't see that happening. Mobile tech is moving at such a fast pace compared to desktop/notebook tech so I don't think we will be seeing Qualcomm and Samsung posting chipset drivers anytime soon so that third parties can compile future versions of the OS for existing hardware. Since the people making the OS are not the same as the OEMs, there's a breakdown.

I don't know how you would make Android work more like Windows or Linux where you can count on drivers from any company that expects to stay in business. The only other alternative I can see is for one of the big OEMs to put a real effort into updates as a way to differentiate themselves. Still, with as fast as things are moving, what's the point? Why keep developing drivers and software for 2- or 3-year old devices that are pretty much dinosaurs in the mobile tech world?

I know what you mean. And I never purchased a smartphone, but rather a dumbphone. Right now I have a Nokia C1-01 that has a camera, can play MP3s and radio, record conversations and radio. And of course, is one of the best damn phones out there with a battery that lasts for weeks on standby, and many, many hours, of talking (remember it's designed primarely for India and the like).

And, it costs "nothing".

It has left me with one problem however, since I now carry a small dumbphone, and my Nexus 7 around. What to do when not at a hotspot? Get the new Nexus 7 with 3G?

I think I'll either just get another really cheap dumbphone that can tether or a MiFi (from what I read, those "give away" Nokia 3G dumbphones can tether over bluetooth!, that would be the perfect solution).

My favorite feature of Android was the open file system. Plug in phone to computer - it appears like a flash drive. Copy pdf or movie file (any kind - ANY KIND). done. Unplug, go to files OPEN. Choose the program you want to open.

Such a simple thing, but the mangled issues I have getting files to my iPad or to my Windows Phone (7 Mango) make me want to tear my hair out in frustration. Sure I can use Zune to drop a movie file to my phone, but Zune has to convert it first. Then it borks out over half the time. It's wasted effort. Same thing for the iPad - I can use the apps tab in iTunes to try to send files to movie player apps on the iPad, but it's a hack. Or I can email myself pdfs. Or find a program that uses Dropbox.

All inelegant hacks around what should be the simplest process ever. Plug in. Copy. Play or open with MY choice of program.

I forgot to say in my previous post that my favorite thing about Andorid is competition in the mobile market. I personally don't care if people use iOS or Andorid or something else. This whole marketplace wouldn't be as great as it is without great competition. Apple, Google and the developers have true competition on both sides.

While I'm sure each side would love to sue each other into oblivion, Andorid users should be thanking Apple and Apple users should be thanking Google for creating a competitive marketplace for mobile device users. No matter which device you use, competition has...and will continue to raise the bar.

I am still using Nexus One as my daily driver with CM10 on it. It is pretty ancient now and lags here and there, but I haven't found another phone to replace it yet: Micro SD card slot, removable battery, good design (looks cool when the notification LED flashes in the trackball), and it is a Nexus (!) from HTC. A shame that Google has decided to remove the micro SD slot from the Nexus line.

I'd like app permissions to actually be finely controllable and invoked when they're being used. Right now abuse seems rife, with many apps asking for blanket access to my GPS location, phone number, call logs, and the ability to run at boot. Why does a dictionary app or a scrabble game need that? The answer is that it doesn't, except as a way to sell user data to advertisers.

I don't think I'm being paranoid for not wanting advertisers (many which I've never heard of) tracking my every step and communication. Luckily there's Droidwall and a few other privacy apps, but that functionality should honestly be baked-in to the OS.

OK, here's what I would like to see them do... I (and many of you out there that have a tablet like a Nexus 7 or the coming Nexus 10) have a first world problem - too many screens. When I am out of the house, I have my phone. When I am in the house, I am stuck carrying both my phone and my Nexus 7, because the phone might ring. Since both devices share my WiFi network and the Nexus 7 has a mic and speaker (works great for Google+ hangouts), why do I need to keep my phone with me in the house? I want to put it on the charger and have calls automatically routed (over WiFi) from my phone to my Nexus 7 when I am home. I don't want to have to keep both devices with me on the couch, etc. I know you can do this Google - you have all the hardware there, you just need a software layer to make it happen.

While maybe not the exact solution you're looking for, there are apps that will let you use your N7 as a phone combined with a Google Voice account. I use Talkatone on my N7 to make calls when I'm feeling too lazy to lean far enough off the couch to pick up my phone laying on the table. Also, since I'm now starting to use my GVoice # as my primary phone #, I can avoid carrying my cell phone around the house at all since incoming calls will come to my N7 as well as my phone.

That being said, some way to automagically route all incoming calls to my phone to any other Android device connected to the same LAN over wi-fi would be pretty nice.

Updates to all Android devices for at least 18 months after they are introduced, just like Google promised at I/O 2011.

Apparently a promise that would be impossible to keep, since Google can't force the carriers to push device updates. (Making impossible promises? Google could run for President!)

I'd expect this to apply to phones developed and released after the announcement, not to phones already for sale.

But even then Moto has failed on that front, and HTC is a little behind, Samsung next.

It's kinda lame in a way, since the easiest fix for it is to just use the same linux kernel on each new release thereby allowing the reuse of all the drivers. But each new release has new features developed in tandem with Android and the Linux devs.

Why am I getting downvoted for asking if these things require rooting? I'm thinking about getting one but I'm wondering if some of these features - like replacing home screen, adding widgets, that level of customization - require rooting. One reason I hadn't switched is that I had the impression that on MOST model phones, I'd still need to root the phone to do these things. And since the article mentions that these are advantages over the iPhone, I assume that means you don't have to root/jailbreak to do them, which would be an advantage for sure.

So why is that a downvote? Rather than, you know, answer the question? Or ignore it?

I find it odd that more people don't use widgets. I love mine. My main screen is the usual clock/weather combo, nothing fancy. But slide left or right and I've got a ton of widgets I use constantly. From music player widgets, battery life, email, twitter, and a couple more. And I use them even more on my tablet.

Why am I getting downvoted for asking if these things require rooting? I'm thinking about getting one but I'm wondering if some of these features - like replacing home screen, adding widgets, that level of customization - require rooting. One reason I hadn't switched is that I had the impression that on MOST model phones, I'd still need to root the phone to do these things. And since the article mentions that these are advantages over the iPhone, I assume that means you don't have to root/jailbreak to do them, which would be an advantage for sure.

Well, you might be asking honestly, but most likely you are getting downvoted because the article states which are the things that require rooting and you might come off to people as someone who didn't pay attention while reading, namely this part:

Quote:

While rooting is a major part of the Android experience for enthusiasts, one of the best things about Android is you don't have to root in order to customize the user interface and install applications from third-party sources.

So there it is, none of the things you mention in your comment require rooting. Customizing your phone is part of the normal experience in Android available for all users.